Anyone else felt led on?

[feelingledon]

I had good rapport with my POI throughout the whole process. She even talked about how we could work on my project and how she would definitely have money to support my research ideas. She said that ultimately, I would have to decide if the funding package would be enough for me to attend. I was an international applicant (US applying to Canada).

I just got a rejection... I feel heartbroken and completely led on. 

I want to know why I was rejected, and what went wrong, because we literally talked up until about two weeks ago. 

[feelingledon]

I'm trying so hard not to be angry, but I'm pretty upset. It's extremely difficult not to take this one personal. 

[menalta17]

That's disappointing but I would take the opportunity to ask why you were rejected. Especially since you guys started discussing funding (which it could've come down to). I know it's hindsight advice but I've been told several times to never bet on POIs no matter how nice they are because this same situation has happened over and over again since the beginning of email. I, too, had two POIs that seemed SUPER into me and my work and we exchanged emails over the period of a month. I was rejected by both programs. You unfortunately can't get too attached or comfortable :/

[samman1994]

The POI is not responsible for accepting you alone (if she is even part of the committee). There is a graduate committee that reviews applications, gets feedback from the professors who interviewed you, and then makes a group decision on who to accept, waitlist, and reject. There are many reasons why a student might get rejected, and I wouldn't say the PI led you on. It is assumed you understand that this is process, and there is a real possibility you might not get in. They simply informed you they were interested in you and would love for you to join their lab, and IF you got accepted, then you would have to look at the funding package as a factor for your decision. 

[menalta17]

Oh...and a lot of program's admissions committees don't include the application-accepting professors. So...you could've been rejected by a random faculty member that doesn't know your application from the next. 

[feelingledon]

18 minutes ago, menalta17 said:

That's disappointing but I would take the opportunity to ask why you were rejected. Especially since you guys started discussing funding (which it could've come down to). I know it's hindsight advice but I've been told several times to never bet on POIs no matter how nice they are because this same situation has happened over and over again since the beginning of email. I, too, had two POIs that seemed SUPER into me and my work and we exchanged emails over the period of a month. I was rejected by both programs. You unfortunately can't get too attached or comfortable :/

I wish someone would have told me this :/ I would have been more prepared. Thank you though!

[feelingledon]

18 minutes ago, samman1994 said:

The POI is not responsible for accepting you alone (if she is even part of the committee). There is a graduate committee that reviews applications, gets feedback from the professors who interviewed you, and then makes a group decision on who to accept, waitlist, and reject. There are many reasons why a student might get rejected, and I wouldn't say the PI led you on. It is assumed you understand that this is process, and there is a real possibility you might not get in. They simply informed you they were interested in you and would love for you to join their lab, and IF you got accepted, then you would have to look at the funding package as a factor for your decision. 

I didn't say the POI led me on, I said I FELT that way. But yeah, I understand. It's just a tough pill to swallow. 

[samman1994]

4 minutes ago, feelingledon said:

I didn't say the POI led me on, I said I FELT that way. But yeah, I understand. It's just a tough pill to swallow. 

Sadly that is life. Job interviews are the same thing. They tell you they want you, interview goes great and they say they can't wait to get you started. Then a short while later you receive an email saying thank you but the job position is filled. Overall, rejections suck, even if you know you're gonna get rejected (I applied to Harvard with a 3.0 GPA, knew I was gonna get rejected, but it still stung when the email came in). Hopefully you're other schools worked out!

[menalta17]

17 hours ago, feelingledon said:

I wish someone would have told me this :/ I would have been more prepared. Thank you though!

I totally understand! There are so many unwritten rules in the game of admissions.

[ThisIsCruel]

I would definitely ask about it!

[UntitledSix]

This is kind of the situation I'm in, so I'm a bit more worried now. The Professor said he added a letter of support to my application and there was funding for me, but I haven't heard anything yet. Were you applying for Master's or PhD? Mine is a Biology MS. 

[beanbean]

I really feel you on this one. US student applying to Canadian schools. I haven't heard back, but I have a bad feeling about it, watching other people's acceptances come in. Applied to work with a prof who I've collaborated with before and now known for about a year. In my field, everyone says that as long as you've established a good relationship with the prof then you're basically in. But apparently that's not the case. Feeling so frustrated by this process...

[UTOPIA AD]

On 3/11/2018 at 12:15 AM, UntitledSix said:

This is kind of the situation I'm in, so I'm a bit more worried now. The Professor said he added a letter of support to my application and there was funding for me, but I haven't heard anything yet. Were you applying for Master's or PhD? Mine is a Biology MS. 

Oh no....I'm also In the same boat....poi have just mailed me week ago with articles to go through.....but the admission result have not yet been published......I'm little anxious now.......hope I don't get rejected.......I quit on good school in the US....FOR Canada.....?